Remixed versions of the song were included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, Rearviewmirror, and the 2009 Ten reissue.

It was one of five songs compiled onto a tape called Stone Gossard Demos '91 that was circulated in the hopes of finding a singer and drummer for Pearl Jam.

[6] The tape made its way into the hands of vocalist Eddie Vedder, who was working as a San Diego gas station attendant at the time.

Guitarist Mike McCready on the song's lead guitar work: That's more of a Stevie [Ray Vaughan] rip-off, with me playing little flowing things.

'Black' doesn't quote directly from 'Western Sky,' but it paraphrases the line 'Please be happy baby' where Vedder sings in a very Eitzel way, 'I hope someday you'll have a beautiful life'."

Despite pressure from Epic Records, the band refused to make it into a single, citing it as too personal and expressing fear that its emotional weight would be destroyed in a music video.

"[10] Vedder personally called radio station managers to make sure Epic had not released the song as a single against his wishes.

Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork Media said, "On songs like...'Black,' with strangely dramatic vocalizations, there's a hardscrabble dynamic that the band would be unable to capture on subsequent releases.

"[12] In March 2009, "Black" was made available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series as a master track as part of the album Ten.